Acer pushes three huge TFT displays

Boosts value and office lines

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Acer has announced three enormous TFT displays – two in its Value Line and one in its Office Line.

The additions to the Value Line are a 22 inch and 26 inch model, while the Office Line is boosted by a 24 inch offering.

The 22 inch Value Line AL2216W has a resolution of 1,680x1,050, contrast ratio of 700:1 and a 300cd/m2 brightness rating as well as a response time of 5ms (typical).

You'd have thought that was a grey-to-grey rating, however the other two models are specifically quoted as grey-to-grey, whereas the AL2216W doesn't get that distinction so it could well be a true response time in which case it's hellish quick.

It's got a D-Sub (no digital) and Acer helpfully points out that the 16:10 aspect ratio is ideal for watching movies.

The other Value product is the AL2616W, which measures a mighty 26 inches on the diagonal and supports a native WUXGA resolution of 1,920 x 1,200 pixels. Brightness is 500cd/m2, contrast ratio is 1000:1, the response time is 6ms grey-to-grey and it's also got a VGA connector but no digital output.

Both models are available in silver and black finishes.

So far so good, except that pricing is yet to be announced.

However, Acer dropped a minor bombshell when it added that "Acer shall also upgrade both the 22 inch and 26 inch widescreen models with high digital content protection interface (HDCP) with HDTV (1080p) support during the last quarter of 2006".

Turn that around and it's clear that the AL2216W and AL2616W currently don't have HDCP and, therefore, won't be able to display protected content properly. You might not be fussed about this short-coming, but Acer clearly feels it matters enough to update the displays in a few months time.

The final model in the trio is the AL2423WR which sits in the Office Line. It's a 24 inch display with the same WUXGA resolution of 1,920x1,200 pixels as the AL2616W. It also shares the 500cd/m2 brightness rating, 6ms (G-to-G) response time and 1000:1 contrast ratio, so it' probably more appropriate to play spot the difference, which throws up VGA and DVI connectors and integrated speakers.

Ah, that's why there's no photo of the AL2423WR. Integrated speakers tend to look bulky and horrid while the AL221W and AL2616W look amazingly sleek and neat. ®